Support from the Maine Community Foundation’s (MaineCF) Maine Land Protection grant program will conserve more than 4,000 acres across the state, including 70-plus acres that will be returned to Wabanaki tribes. Seven nonprofit conservation projects received grants totaling $173,600 to protect land from Washington to Cumberland counties.

Five projects totaling $153,600 were funded through the grant program and two projects totaling $20,000 were funded by donors with advised funds at MaineCF.

Grantees include Land in Common, which will purchase 105 acres in Greene, including 70 acres that will return to Wabanaki care. In Portland, Trust for Public Land will purchase 24 acres to create North Deering Park. Friends of Haystack Mountain conserved a 57-acre parcel on Haystack Mountain for public trails and recreation. View all recent grants at www.mainecf.org/recentgrants.

The Maine Land Protection grant program was launched in 2020 and has awarded more than $1.9 million to 31 projects in its first three years. It focuses specifically on larger land acquisition and conservation easement projects and prioritizes proposals that create or expand access to land and water for underserved people and communities.

The program will accept proposals for 2023 grants beginning on Sept. 15, 2023. For more information, visit www.mainecf.org or contact Katie Howard, MaineCF program officer, at khoward@mainecf.org or 207-412-0832.

The Maine Community Foundation brings people and resources together to build a better Maine through strategic giving, community leadership, personalized service, local expertise and strong investments. To learn more about the foundation, visit www.mainecf.org.

2022 Grants

• Frenchman Bay Conservancy, to purchase Whitney Forest, 467 acres in downtown Ellsworth: $22,700

• Friends of Haystack Mountain, to acquire 57 acres in Montville, which includes recreational trails and blueberry barrens: $22,700

• Land in Common, to purchase 105 acres in Greene: 70 will be returned to Wabanaki care, 22 will be added to an existing agricultural ground lease, and 13 will become long-term ground leases for new BIPOC land stewards: $35,500

• Maine Coast Heritage Trust, to purchase six acres in Machiasport and facilitate the return of the land to the Passamaquoddy Tribe: $22,700

• Trust for Public Land, to purchase 24 acres in Portland to create the North Deering Park: $50,000

From donor-advised funds:

• Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, to purchase parcels in the valley between Saddleback and Mount Abraham, protecting 3,354 acres that will become part of the state’s Mount Abraham Public Reserve Land unit: $10,000

• Western Foothills Land Trust, to purchase 52 acres to help create a 2,300-acre conserved landscape stretching from Waterford and Harrison to Norway and Otisfield: $10,000

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